Pearls of Wisdom For Kingdom Living By Pastor George Belobaba

The Coming Of Christ, Pt. 3

19. 1 Thessalonians 5:22… Maintain a lifestyle that avoids all appearances of evil. Stay away from things that look evil. No Christian is perfect; we all have our shortcomings. Proverbs 24:16 says, “For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again” (KJV). If you fall down seven times, stand up the eighth time. If you fall down, don’t stay down.

20. 1 Thessalonians 5:23… Maintain a spirit that lets God sanctify you. By the Holy Spirit, you can keep clean, be preserved, and be blameless in the time of trouble until the coming of Christ. Paul charged the pastors to read the Thessalonian epistles to all the holy brethren.

A FEW COMMENTS to help alleviate any fears…

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18… Paul again speaks to those saints who have fear in their hearts in the days before Jesus comes. God doesn’t want us to be ignorant of the resurrection of the saints who have died. He doesn’t want us ignorant of the translation for those who are alive at the coming of the Lord. The resurrected saints are coming with Christ.

1 Thessalonians 5:1-11… Jesus is coming suddenly and unexpectedly. “At an hour when ye think not” (Luke 12:40, KJV). Note, one major sign that Paul gives is v. 3, “When they shall say, Peace and safety,” then sudden destruction comes. The vocabulary is “peace and safety” or “prosperity and safety.” We must be alert to the times. 1 Peter 4:7 fits in now; “The end of all things is at hand.” Remember 1 Thessalonians 5:5, “Ye are all the children of light.” In other words, “children who will live in illumination.” (Remember the Moses-Pharaoh plague of light in Israel and darkness in Egypt.)

2 Thessalonians 2:3… The falling away… These words mean, “to go away from, a departure from the faith, a revolt, a willful turning from Christ.” Many people in our nation no longer accept Jesus as the only way of salvation. Countless numbers believe Satan’s lie, “you shall be as gods” (Genesis 3:5, KJV). In the June 1994 issue of AARP magazine, there is an article that stated forty percent of the people involved in cults are over fifty years old. The University of California at Berkeley said that there are between two thousand to five thousand cults in this nation with a total of approximately three to five million members. People are rejecting the gospel. The falling away is upon us. Paul talks about delusion in 2 Thessalonians 2:7-12; because people reject the truth, they will accept strong delusions.

1 Thessalonians 5:27… Paul was charged by the Lord to read these two books to all the holy brethren. God has a vision for the last days church. The church is going to experience an even greater anointing soon. The anointing will break the yoke of bondage that pressures the saints. The new prophetic age is close at hand. It precedes the coming of Christ. The coming of Christ should not cause fear, but should raise our hopes to say, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20, KJV).